The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
Central Propaganda Department: Without exception, do not report or comment on [information] about “Occupy Central” in Hong Kong that has not yet been unified and planned. Do not quote related information from overseas media or websites. Please strictly comply. (May 14, 2013)
中宣部:对香港“占领中环”行动一事未统一安排一律不报道、不评论,不转引境外媒体及网上相关消息。请严格遵照执行。
Protesters plan to “occupy” Central, the busy downtown of Hong Kong, in July 2014 if Hong Kong citizens do not have universal suffrage by that point. The International Herald Tribune covered Occupy Central in April, while the South China Morning Post has a page dedicated to the topic.
Guangdong Propaganda Department: On the evening of May 9, employee Wu Taihui jumped from the administrative offices of the Zhongyi Industrial Park in Dongguan. Except for [information] issued by authoritive departments, the media are to stop reporting and commenting on this incident. (May 15, 2013)
广东省委宣传部:5月9日晚东莞中意工业园行政办公楼发生的员工吴太辉坠楼事件,除权威部门发布外,各媒体不再报道,评论。
Wu, who had just been fired, was at the factory to settle his wages, according to his widow [zh].
Central Propaganda Department: The media are not to sensationalize, exaggerate, or comment on the incident in Wanning, Hainan Province in which an elementary school put female students in a hotel room overnight. You may report in an orderly manner according to information issued by authoritative departments. (May 15, 2013)
中宣部:关于海南万宁小学带女学生开房过夜一事,各媒体不炒作渲染、不评论。可依据权威部门发布的信息有序报道。
Four girls were brought to a hotel room in Wanning and sexually assaulted by their school headmaster. A government official brought another two girls to a hotel in nearby Haikou. Doctors who examined the girls reported they are still virgins, but they were bruised and appear “groggy” in surveillance footage.
CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.